Manresa, Love Apple Farms make their screen debut

“The Farmer and the Chef” tells the story of Manresa’s David Kinch and Love Apple Farms’ Cynthia Sandberg. (Photo, Whalen Films)

Call it a farm-to-table-to-screen story.

The much-lauded David Kinch, chef-owner of the two-Michelin-starred Manresa in Los Gatos, can now add film star to his résumé. He and the restaurant’s agricultural muse, grower Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farms in Santa Cruz, are the focus of a documentary premiering March 9 at San Jose’s Cinequest film festival.

In “The Farmer and the Chef,” filmmaker Michael Whalen shows how the two collaborate to put exquisite biodynamic meals on the plate at Manresa.

Their partnership began more than a decade ago when Kinch bought some of Sandberg’s legendary tomatoes; today, the farm grows hundreds of varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs for Manresa.

“This is not a show garden; this is not a PR garden,” Kinch says in the film, noting that the close relationship with Love Apple Farms — he personally monitors what’s ripening and when — has “fundamentally affected how we write menus at the restaurant.”

Cinequest will honor the pair with its Maverick Spirit Award.

For tickets to the 7:30 p.m. March 9 screening at the San Jose Repertory Theatre, go to www.cinequest.org. If you can’t make that, keep your eye on this blog: We’ll keep readers posted on future screenings. Or, if you have a large enough group of foodies or film buffs, contact filmmaker Whalen for a screening.